Just One Night
by Squid.Butler
Summary: Craig is sick of the awful ways South Park has treated him over the years. He's decided to run away, but not alone. Clyde is being dragged along with him, but only for one night.. Or so he says. :D
1. Good Riddance

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm running away." The raven haired boy repeated, drawing in a breath of cold air. His arms were crossed and burrowed into his chest, balancing himself against the railing of Clyde's porch steps. "I just wanted to know if you were willing to come with me."

Clyde's eyes flickered a little in astonishment, before rubbing thoroughly into them with his clenched fists- you would have the same reaction if you were abruptly awoken at 2 in the morning. "..What?"

Craig hung his head down and sighed, unimpressed by Clyde's response.

"Are you coming with me or not?" he lifted his head back up to stare at the chocolatey eyes before him.

"You're not really gonna do it, Craig. You're just mad about something. Look, since you got your backpack with supplies anyways, you should just spend the night here and cool down." he leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms inwards, now feeling the chill of the night enter in through his sleepwear.

"I'm not just mad, I'm sick of it!" he raised his voice a bit, almost forgetting the fact people would be sleeping right now. His shoulders cocked up sheepishly, almost as if he were stopping the volume of his voice- even though it already happened. He shrugged it off and continued on with a harsh whisper to make up for his snapping volume. "I'm sick of my house, I'm sick of my family, I'm sick of our school, I've had enough! And.." he stopped himself, creating a little more distance from his childhood friend. "Well, my point is, I'd rather you come with me than those psychopathic weirdos from our grade."

The brunette's head shook a bit in deep, regretting thought. "But dude-"

Before he could finish, Craig was closer than before, his hand resting on Clyde's shoulder. Craig's deep sapphire eyes were fixed onto his round earthy ones. "At least one night? I'll take you home if you wuss out."

"Wuss out?" Clyde's growing sympathetic look lessened as he took Craig's hand to set it away from him. "And if I go home?"

"I'm still running away. You'll just be here instead."

Clyde returned his hand into his gut to keep himself warm. "Are you sure you know where you're going with this?" his eyebrow quirked, bemused.

"I'm not dumb, Clyde." he replied sternly, impatient for an answer.

"You have to be at least a little dumb to run away" he looked off into the road to avoid the glare given to him by the rebelious teen.

"Are you coming with me or not?" he unfolded his arms to drop them to his sides lazily.

"Fine." he answered quietly. He backed from the door frame and pointed towards Craig in authority. "For one night. That's all you're gonna last, anyways. Then you'll realise you don't have it so bad, here." he straightened his posture and gestured him in, Craig dragging his feet into the house. "I'll just get my stuff. Wait here and be quiet." he raced up the stairs.

Craig closed the door to barracade the cold from flowing in and sighed. Did Clyde really agree to follow along into the unforgiving night?..He's done stranger. He was rather shocked HE was willing to lead the way. He was the kind of kid to burrow into the depths of his room, keeping the strange antics of the town at bay. Not tonight, though. Because tonight is the last night in South Park. Goodbye, small, spontaneous town.

Clyde tip-toed downstairs with a dufflebag thrown over his shoulder. "I got my stuff." he murmured under his breath. "I should steal a water bottle from the fridge quick-" he started, until Craig simply pointed to the kitchen, ordering him to hurry up. Soon enough he was back near his friend's side with a small nervous smile. Of course Clyde wasn't sure about it. He was only going for that night..right?

They exited the house and entered onto the sidewalk, the cold greeting them with a close hug to their faces. Clyde looked behind him to his house. The place he grew up. He whimpered a little under his breath. "I'll be back" he told the house, awkwardly getting a look from Craig. He realised how weird it was to bid adieu to a house, and held his face down, catching up to his friend that began his way down the path.

Goodbye, South Park, and good riddence.


	2. What do you want me to do?

Not even 3 blocks later, Clyde was restlessly asking questions about their destination.

"Do you know where were going?"

"Anywhere but here."

"And where's that?"

"Somewhere"

"Oh.. Where's the nearest gas station? I gotta piss."

"You didn't go before we left?"

"It was kinda short notice, Craig."

Craig lowered his shoulders and sighed in impatience. "Look, there's about 8 bathrooms I can see from here."

"Really? Where?" Clyde looked over Craig's broad shoulders into the dark distance.

Craig panned his arm across the side and labeled each object it swiped by, "Tree number one, tree number two, bush number one, tall grassy field number one, bush number two, trees number three and four, and bush number three."

Clyde wasn't impressed, rather, he was regretting he asked. "Are you really insisting I piss in the woods somewhere? What if a bear gets me?"

Craig tilted his head with his eyes closed coyly. "Stranger things have happened. And besides, it won't eat you, it probably thinks your it's little baby or something." he reached in to pinch Clyde's cheek.

The brunette swatted him away with a small frown. "Fine, fine!" he huffed in a quick breath of air and stepped off the sidewalk, the grass crunching below his feet. Craig looked up and around before catching Clyde, barely moving, looking pitifully at Craig. "Whaddya want?"

Clyde pouted, "It's dark out here, dude.."

"Just hurry up and take your potty break, ya big baby." Craig mocked as he tapped his foot on the concrete.

"Hey dude, shut up! The street light doesn't light it up back here, I can't see where the hell bush number two went." he called back as the grass brushed about him noisily.

"Yea?" The shaggy haired boy turned, "What do you want ME to do about it?"

"I dunno!" the jock whined from the border of the woods. "I-I found it!" he cheered, before exchanging his look for a straightened one. "Turn around."

Craig rolled his eyes and turned to the road again. The street lights were weak and the one above him flickering every so often. It was kind of annoying and peaceful at the same time- that is until he heard the unpleasant sound of what resembled a bag of potatoes being dropped rung into his ears, followed by a little whimpering.

"Craaaiig..oww.." The younger friend quivered from his lips quietly. "I..I tripped" he coughed out another pitiful whine.

What the hell. It seems Clyde was always at stake for some sort of self inflicted wounds somehow, of course, not to the degree like their classmate Kenny. "Yea?" Craig started, "Again, what do you want ME to do about it?"

"Nothing." he toughed out to say. It was followed my a series of agonizing ow's and 'it hurrts' until Craig finally decided he was getting nowhere until he assisted him. He turned off into the grass, making his way towards his friend.

"What happened, dude?" Craig examined the boy that was sprawled in the grass and holding his leg.

"I said I tripped!" he snapped, eager for help out of the brush. "Now just help me up!"

Craig grumbled under his breath and leaned in, grabbing onto his friends shoulders and hoisting him slowly. It wasn't a smooth task by any means. You got the slightly husky jock and the scrawny limp..Craig. His knees buckled under the weight that was more than his own until he exhaled an exhausted breath, setting his friend to support himself on his own two feet, which didn't work quite well either. Clyde let out a painful squeal and doubled over, lifting his leg, releasing the pressure from it. "Ow! Craig, dammit!"

"What did I do? I helped you up, didn't I?" he sneered, looking at his friend's hovering limb. His ankle was a little swollen. "Hey, it seems you're crying for a reason this time!" he chirped sarcastically, lowering himself to the level of the injury.

"Don't touch it." the brown eyed teen frowned, "It's throbbing enough already."

Craig scoffed.

"Shut the hell up, get your mind out of the gutter, and help me to the sidewalk so I can check out my ankle better."

"Ok, princess."

Not another word was exchanged while Clyde swung his arm around Craig's shoulder for support. The jagged walk across the grass was rather awkward for the fact Clyde had the balance of a sedated cat and was wobbling to and fro as he struggled to keep weight off his injury. That and..well, Craig was never the one to have any bronze. His friend leaning into him for support was killing his shoulder and making him lose his own balance, stumbling one side, then stomping back into balance, leaning to the other side. You could of swore they were two drunks aiding each other home.

Their feet met the sidewalk after a series of tumbling about, and this made Craig sigh in relief as he hurried to set his friend down on the side of the pavement. Clyde rested his legs onto the road while the flickering light illuminated the swollen joint.

"This..doesn't look TOO bad." he attempted to calm himself, "It'll go down before you know it!"

"Of COURSE it will. It's not sprained or anything." Craig sat down next to Clyde and leaned towards the wound, "You'll be fine. It's just flippin tits because you twisted it a little." he looked up at the hovering light system above him, twitching on and off. He raised his middle finger up to the engulfing light. Must of just been something to do while the silence took place during the time Clyde was treating his little boo-boo.

"Ok, I think it's gone down a bit." Clyde observed his foot, satisfied with the recovery. That only took..what? Half an hour? The entire time Clyde's ankle was having its whole episode, Craig has ventured out into the woods to do his business, then entertained himself by throwing Clyde's shoe above the power lines to crash down somewhere in the grass, retrieve it, and repeat the process. It often received glares from his brunette classmate, but he didn't care. It's not like he was wearing it. And Craig was never good at measuring anything out, so it's not like it was going to catch itself on the power wires. Besides, don't you need two shoes for that?

"Yea? Finally. Here's your shoe." he tossed it besides Clyde, "Let's hurry up and get goin. It's already quarter after three, and I plan to stop and sleep somewhere before the sun comes up."


	3. Going Home?

The beams of the sun flooded in through the canopies of the trees, soaking themselves into Craig's eyes and forcing them open. He unwillingly looked up into the trees, the shade greacefully keeping the sun from completely blinding him.

Yup, they didn't want to go far with Clyde's ankle, so they settled into the other side of the road under a group of pine and oak trees.

It was kind of pretty to be waking up to something other than yelling parents or an annoying alarm clock. The downside is that the unlevel and harsh earth below him didn't serve for a matress and his backpack was too plump to work for a functional pillow. He straightened his back and leaned against the tree he sheltered himself below, feeling the shockwaves of aching pain in his back.

"Ow..Hey Clyde, you awake yet?" he looked to the tree besides him, the brunette curled up and fast asleep.

Clyde was a little smarter than Craig was when it came to sleeping. He leveled out his duffel bag by taking out a thick jacket and using it as a blanket. Very clever, Clyde. Especially since Craig has packed a small thin blanket that could be easilly mistaken for a fancy towel- not once thinking of equipping it for the night.

He shrugged it off and felt his stomach grumble lowly. "Dammit Clyde, wake up so we can find a place to eat." he reached over to nudge the jock.

Simply stretching out made his back strain a little, but not enough to complain. He only wondered how Clyde could look so peacefull sleeping on such ridgid terrain. And what was this sensation? Oh crap. Bug bites. Only five of them, but spread about his shoulder, and insanely itchy. He rolled his fingertips along over his shirt to create a scratchy friction. "Clyde. WAKE UP."

"Hmmn?" Clyde refused to open his eyes, only a simple squirming. Craig was afraid this would happen, he often sleeps like a hibernating bear. The ebony haired boy stopped his obsessive scratching and nudged him again more vigerously.

"Come on dude, it's morning and I'm starving. Get up." He shook Clyde's hunched up shoulder. The sleepy teenager swatted his hand away and further curled into a ball, trying to slip back into slumber.

Craig didn't want this to happen again. He remembered of the time he awoke to the grotesque sounds of what he explained to be ghosts. But what can you expect? He was only 10 at the time, so every bump in the night was uneasy. His dutch little friend continued to sleep cozilly in the bed, nuzzled into the pillow under a mexican cuisine themed quilt. Craig didn't want to fall back asleep, and Clyde refused to wake up for anything. Well isn't this a broken record?

He grew impatient, fast. He didn't want to wait for sleeping beauty to wake up while his stomach was preparing to eat itself. He leaned back and threw his leg out, kicking lightly at Clyde's side. "Wake up!" the pattern continued,

Clyde forced an eye open, looking displeasingly at the blue eyed boy and growled under his breath. "What? What time is it? And seriously Craig, why do we have to get up so early if we have nothing early to get up for?"

"Because, Clyde. I'm fucking starving." he snapped back, continuing to release random bits of pressure with his foot on Clyde's side, "We need to find something to eat."

"You didn't pack anything?" he slapped Craig's ankle to keep it at bay.

Craig instantly stopped as his eyes grew wide, "Just some animal crackers." He reached into his bag and hunted outa small box through the layers of clothes.

"Really?" Clyde lifted himself up from the rigid ground, thoroughly rubbing his eye.

"Ye. But they're mine. You were too stubborn getting up." he crunched one loudly between his teeth.

"Not fair, dude." Clyde sat up, his body imitating a board being flipped up, "You force me awake just to eat your crackers in front of me?"

"Guess so." Craig crunched the crackers pleasingly, "Why didn't you pack any food, smart one?"

Clyde picked up the jacket that slinked off his body from sitting up and brushed the pine needles that nested upon it, "I'm not gonna risk waking up my parents by going into the kitchen. The only place I got stuff to pack from was my room- and it's not like I have a fucking mini fridge in there." he commented firmly as he threw his arm through the sleeve on his varsity jacket.

Craig shrugged inwardly and hoisted a sheep shaped cracker to his mouth with a slightly sadistic smile, "Ah. Well sucks to be you, then."

"Dammit, gimme a cracker!" he gritted his teeth, reaching for the box.

Craig's slinky arm outstretched into the open, forcing himself to lean away from the brown eyed boy who desperately leaned in for the all mighty crackers- that must've been made for kindergarteners.

Craig used his free arm to shove the boy off of him, shoving a handfull of the animal shaped goodness into his mouth angrilly. "Thr-mne!" he argued with a mouth disgustingly full.

"Craig, ew." Clyde paused commented under his breath. He slinked back and grabbed for his duffle bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Come on."

"Where we heading today?" the troubled teen raised from the ground, brusing off the back of his pants to free it from any dirt. He looked over to Clyde- who's expression was one not to be messed with as he stared motivatingly into the distance. Nicely done, Clyde.

"Home, of course."

"Home? We're not going back already!" Craig argued as his hands flailed towards the sky. He was really hoping to have Clyde under the marvelous spell of the road- but his plan seemed to backfired once he tripped after taking a piss.

"Yea we are. You said I only had to go with you for one night. It's been one night." he crossed his arms stubbornly, "I'm going home. And you're coming with me."

"No I'm not." Craig deadpanned, "You're going home without me."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Dammit, Clyde!" Craig hissed. He turned and picked up his backpack and hoisted it up onto his bony back, "Stay with me or go home by yourself. Your choice, wise ass."

"Oh, I'M the wiseass?"

"Is dumbass better?" Craig quirked a coy brow.

Clyde remained silent.

"Thought so, dumbass." Craig looked off center into the feilds across the road. "How bout this."

"How bout what?" the brunette turned his head up to his taller companion.

Craig looked along the road, watching a lone car zoom by, the dust rising up behind it. "We hitch hike. Whichever cars picks us up is the way we go." he explained in a dead monotone.

"But I wanna go home." Clyde pouted quietly.

"Clyde, don't be a baby. You willingly went to some 3rd world country to be a pirate, now man up while you're still in the states!" Craig nudged him demandingly as he rose his thumb to the heavens. The hitch hiking has begun.


End file.
